Anand

Anand is the most impressive movie by the director "Hrishikesh Mukherjee". his other movies like "Abhimaan" and "Milli" that also shows his directional sensitivity. Anand is a movie which speaks more than it scripts. It tells us more than its characters narrates the story. The impressive character no doubt is of Rajesh Khannna, but Amitabh is too much impressive. The "Anand" tells us how a man decided and then spent rest of his short life. A Man who had short time, but he wanted to live too much. for him, not the quantity but quality of life does matter. I recommend to see this movies more than once. And every time u see this movie, u'll end up with more brighter definition of film and life. The movie is too simple to narrate here, and tooo deep to express what i actually think about it.

"Babu Moshai, Zindagi Aur Maut ke Khel Mein Hum Sab Katputhli Hain" An immortal piece of dialog from an immortal movie Anand. Many a Hindi movie starts of well,but falters pretty badly in the climax. Anand was one of the few movies which grips you from start to end. Its one of the few movies which has an unforgettable climax.

Consider this the eponymous character Anand(Rajesh Khanna) lies on the bed dying. Babu Moshai(Amitabh Bachan) enters the room. He cannot bear to see his friend lying still on death bed. He holds him and shakes him up weeping uncomfortably

"Tum Mujhe Aisa Chod Ke Nahin Ja Saakte"

"20 mahine se mein tera bak bak sun raha hoon"

"Baate Karo Mujhshe" And then as if on cue, the tape recorder plays "Babu Moshai, Babu Moshai, Zindagi aur Maut Ki Khel Mein Hum Sab Katputhli Hain, Yahan kya hote hai, na tum jaane na main Sab Upar Wale ki Haath Meiin" The ghostly way in which the voice appears and the equally eerie laughter, creates such a haunting impact, that a shiver runs down my spine every time i watch this scene. It's as if Anand is speaking through his spirit, and even after death he still continues to live.

Anand is a masterpiece of the first order by Hrishida and one of my all time fav movies. Now an interesting thing regarding the dedication of Anand. It wad dedicated to Raj Kapoor and the city of Mumbai.

The Raj Kapoor connection was easy to make out, as he was Hrishida's best buddy in real life. Hrishida got his first commercial success with Raj Kapoor's Anari and Raj Kapoor got the best actor award for the movie. They were as different as chalk and cheese. While Raj Kapoor was the typical loud Punjabi extrovert,,Hrishida was the very epitome of the Bengali Babu with his sober intellectual demeanour. Also Hrishida's movies were aimed at the common man, and pretty sober and minimalist in nature, while RK was a showman par excellence with his penchant for larger than life canvas and huge settings. Hrishida himself admitted that Anand's character was based on RK's and he didn't cast RK as he couldn't bear to see his friend die on screen also. For his part Anand was a movie always close to RK's heart.

Regarding the Mumbai connection, i feel the story of Anand is somewhat linked to that of Mumbai. One could be that Hrishida made his career in Mumbai and i guess this was his way of saying thank you to the city which made him. Most of Hrishida's best movies have been Mumbai centric "Anand", "Mili","Abhimaan","Gol Maal" to name a few. Also like Anand, Mumbai is a city which though beset with innumerable problems like slums, crime, pollution, overcrowding still manages to survive and live every day. Life is not easy for an average Mumbaikar, what with all those overcrowded trains, high prices, crime rate but he/she still has a zeal for life, which is rarely found anywhere else. Its a city which gets back to normal life even after a couple of bomb blasts have destroyed large chunks. Its a city where dreams are made and realized. Its a city where people face a daily struggle and yet have an inexhaustible zest for life,much like Anand, who knows he will die but takes death head on as he says "Babu Moshai, zindag Badi Hone chahiye, Lambi nahin". Mumbai is a city that dies a thousand deaths daily, but never loses its love for life. Anand is a man who knows he is to die, but makes the best of his limited life.

I enjoyed this movie because I thought the main character was extremely likable and consistently brought a smile to my face. This movie essentially tells you how it will end as soon as it starts, but it still wraps up with an emotional punch.

In 1970, Rajesh Khanna was the biggest star and was shooting for multiple movies along with Anand. But it seems he would take some time out from his other schedules would come to Hrishi da and ask him if he could shoot the next scene from Anand. That's how eager and dedicated he was to Anand. Probably he knew that this was the movie that he would be remembered for.

The movie narrates like the pages of a diary of one Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee and his relationship with Anand Sehgal who he treated for cancer. Despite of such a heavy theme the movie is high spirited just like Anand Sehgal who likes to laugh in the face of death. Special mention should be made for attention given to each character in the movie. All the characters are well etched and everyone has given a truly inspired performance.

The last sequence must be the most dramatic sequence that I have seen in any movie. Music by Salil Chaudhary and lyrics by Yogesh and Gulzar are apt and wonderful. Definitely one of the best movies made in India.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee has enriched Hindi cinema with such masterpieces as Gol Maal, Chupke Chupke, Mili, Abhimaan, Bawarchi, Khubsoorat. All of them relatively low on budget and high in quality. To think of it that he was directing at the breakneck speed of more than two movies a year. Mukherjee's movies were light hearted comic dramas, Anand too is comical at times. His other movies featured people struggling to keep a job, or fancying a marriage to film star, or struggling to keep up with a practical joke, Anand on the other hand is about struggling to live the short life you have.

Anand is without doubt the best (and most popular) of Mukherjee's works. Rajesh Khanna's role as Anand, a patient with 'Lymphosarcoma (cancer) of the intestine' is probably his best acting ever. How Anand fights cancer brings tears to your eyes, even if you see this movie for the umpteenth. You laugh with Anand, you cry with him, you sing with him, you live the life he lives. Amitabh Bachchan's (Dr Banerjee) role of his square faced Bengali doctor, in a role so different from the roles that made him a superstar, (Bachchan was voted the greatest actor ever in the online BBC pole, though he played it down saying - this proves Indians do not have much to do on Internet) Amitabh does a wonderful job. Being a Bollywood movie that it is, there are some beautiful songs. I wonder - a Hollywood movie with songs is called a musical and all Bollywood movies are characterised as song and dance sequences. This is a stereotype that a lot of Hindi Movies won't fit into (then there are a lot that will). Anand for one has no dance sequence. Lot of beautiful songs though, that help the narrative and in character development like acting can't.

For example you never see Anand unhappy for a second. You think he has no sorrows. Even the name of his illness is something to enjoy. Lymphosarcoma of the intestine is quite a name to have for a disease, Anand says in his ever cheerful voice (the word Anand means pleasure btw). Deep inside Anand knows he has limited time in the world and he wants to fill every life that he touches with happiness. In the process he starts growing closer to you. He talks to a complete stranger on the street like he knew him forever. He shares the sorrows of people he meets, gives them reason to smile. But never will let you into his own sad past. It is only through a song (a sort of soliloquy) he sings that you get a bit of information about his sad past - he himself wont share it with you.

The movie won the 1972 Filmfare Award. One of the best works to come out of Bollywood.